Metlán and Jáyo

I've decided to start customizing My Tékumel a bit.

I've been reading up about the town of Sétnakh in the Seal of the Imperium (vol. 1, no. 1) and thinking about where else there might be town or perhaps even small cities. Looking at the maps I noticed how the Sákbe road running north from Jakálla crosses the Mssúma River on its way to Usenánu. It seemed likely to me that there would be a community there, probably on both sides of the river, as the Mssúma is too wide to bridge so there would have to be ferries. I decided I wanted something along the lines of Buda and Pest, two small towns that eventually grew to become modern-day Budapest.

For My Tékumel I decided on Metlán and Jáyo to be my version of Buda and Pest. Looking at the Provincial Map of Tsolyánu I noticed that they would be in two separate provinces: Urusái and Jakásha respectively. Perfect - I thought! All the more reason for them to be separate entities, and it means they can each have their own "City of the Dead" and municipal buildings, and the like. 


I think they are probably rivals to a certain extent. Perhaps there are cross river feuds? I picture Metlán as being the larger of the two with a strong leaning toward Avánthe. Jáyo, I see as being still feeling the influence of Jakálla and so Dlamélish has more of a presence there.


That's about all I've got for them as of yet, but while making the map I noticed a spot on the Swords and Glory map that I thought was just the right place for another town: Mssúra. And then I started wondering about why that unfinished Sákbe road running south from Haumá curved about so much. I decided there are probably some large lakes in the area and added those: The Chegá Lakes. Then I added another small town - Urúk - just for good measure.


I spent a bit of time thinking about the names Metlán and Jáyo but the others I came up with on the fly as I was making the map. No point in getting too hung up on the names! I'm not a linguist and cannot hope to get them in proper Tsolyáni form. Mssúra is of course inspired by the Mssúma River and Urúk is borrowed from Tolkien but at least looks similar in form to Urusái Province.


What I want to do is continue to expand these towns and use the area as the starting point at least for my games.